/*
 *    Copyright 2008 Tim Jansen
 *
 *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 *  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 *  You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 *  limitations under the License.
 */
package sg.atom.utils.event.message;

import sg.atom.core.actor.Actor;
import sg.atom.utils.concurrent.AsyncResult;
import sg.atom.utils.datastructure.collection.immutable.SerializableFreezer;

/**
 * Base class for generated classes to invoke a message-implementing method.
 *
 * @param <T> the result type
 */
public abstract class MessageCaller<T> {

    /**
     * Invokes the message method. Arguments that are Serializable and mutable
     * will be wrapped as {@link SerializableFreezer}.
     *
     * @param instance the instance of the method
     * @param arguments the arguments (partially wrapped as
     * {@link SerializableFreezer})
     * @return the result of the method
     */
    public abstract AsyncResult<T> invoke(Actor instance, Object[] arguments);

    /**
     * Returns the name of the message that is being called by this class (
     * method name or signature).
     *
     * @return the message name
     */
    public abstract String getMessageName();
}
